Uzi recoil causes girl to fatally shoot gun instructor

Cell phone video shot by the 9-year-old's mother was released Tuesday showing the moments leading to the fatal shooting at a White Hills, AZ, gun range. (Source: Mohave Co. Sheriff's Office)

A sign at the Last Stop in White Hills, AZ, directs visitors to shooting range. A shooting instructor was shot there on Aug. 25, 2014, according to the Mohave Co. Sheriff's Office. (Tiffany Murphy/FOX5)

DOLAN SPRINGS, AZ (FOX5) -

Authorities in northwest Arizona said the recoil on an automatic Uzi while in the hands of a 9-year-old girl led to a weapon instructor's fatal shooting.

Charles Vacca, 39, of Lake Havasu City, AZ, died Monday night while being treated at University Medical Center in Las Vegas, the Mohave County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday.

The sheriff's office said the incident happened about 10 a.m. Monday at an outdoor shooting range at the Last Stop at 20606 North Highway 93 in White Hills near the Nevada-Arizona border.

According to the sheriff's office, the instructor was standing next to the girl who was handling a 9 mm automatic Uzi. Citing an investigation, the sheriff's office said the child shot once and then lost control of the Uzi, firing four more shots.

The recoil during the child's operation of the firearm sent it over her head and resulted in Vacca being struck in the head, deputies said.

The man was airlifted to UMC where he later died.

The sheriff's office said the child's parents were present at the time of the incident. A spokeswoman with Mohave County Sheriff's Office said the girl's father handled the gun first before the 9-year-old operated it.

"It's so easy for us to go back and look at something that's very tragic and say, 'Boy! Why did that occur? That should not have happened because of,'" said Mohave County Sheriff Jim McCabe. "Well, maybe from now on, that 'because of' will be in place."

On Tuesday, cell phone video shot by the girl's mother was released, showing the moments leading to the fatal shooting. In the video, Vacca is shown instructing the girl on stance and operation of the weapon.